Her hair, the color of a freshly brewed coffee, cascaded down her back in silky waves like a waterfall. Her skin, smooth and creamy, a natural tan that made her face almost glow. The girl's eyes were a beautiful brown, a milk chocolate type of brown that, upon further inspection, had flecks of gold that made her eyes shine. It were these same wide eyes that kept flickering around the half empty cafe, as if looking for signs of danger. But eventually they would focus back down on her open binder on the table in front of her, where she would continue to scribble furiously, as if whatever thought she had would vanish if she didn't get it out quickly enough.
It was this girl that Beck was now watching from the entrance, fascinated. But eventually, he knew that he had to go up to her, so he took a deep breath and walked towards the girl. Almost as if she could sense him walk towards her, she looked up from her writing to see the young man approach her. Once he got to her table, he smiled gently, taking a seat on the chair across from her.
"Hey, Tori."
She nodded mutely, staring at him warily, as if he would pounce on her in any second. He held out his hand and pointed down towards her work.
Tori flinched slightly when Beck held his hand out. So slightly that he thought he might have imagined it.
Tori smiled shyly back at him, and nodded. Looking back down at the table, she grabbed a red folder and opened it, taking out a piece of paper. "This is the handout that the teacher gave us. We should use it as a guideline for our project."
Beck nodded, looking down at the table, impressed at how neat Tori kept everything. Looking back up at her, he smiled and said, "Let's get to work then," he said.
Beck and Tori were partners assigned together for an English Class project. They had to choose two contrasting songs by different artists and analyze them both. It was slightly awkward between them. They both knew each other, since they hung out with the same people. They were in the same group of friends. But they were never really particularly close. They've never been alone together for an extended period of time.
They continued working for a while, ordering coffee after coffee, until eventually they realized that the cafe was closing.
"Hey, it's getting late," Beck noticed, looking out towards the inky black night. Tori nodded, starting to put everything away. Between the shuffling of papers, she didn't notice Beck get up from her seat and walk closer to her until he was right next to her and he laid a hand on her shoulder gently.
Tori recoiled wildly, slamming her elbow against the edge of the table roughly. Beck stepped back immediately, holding up both of his hands, shock clear in his deep brown eyes.
"Hey! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he exclaimed quickly, trying to calm down the frightened girl.
Tori nodded, releasing a shaky breath she didn't know she was holding. It took several moments for her wild heartbeat to slow down to a steadier pace, and Beck waited patiently. Finally, Tori looked up at him, smiling apologetically and shaking her head as if ashamed of her behavior. "I am...so sorry. I have a tendency of overreacting sometimes," giving him a rueful smile, she swallowed the lump in her throat, resisting the urge to wince as pain shot through her arm where she had hurt herself with the table. She looked back down at the table, trying to avoid looking at Beck any longer than she had to.
Beck, however, continued to stare at her in front of him with alarm, his own heart thumping in his chest. Looking around the empty Cafe, the only person left was the thick set man behind the counter who kept shooting the two teens disapproving looks while wiping down the marble counter.
"Hey, we should really get going now. That guy keeps shooting us dirty looks."
Tori looked up at him nodded, packing up quicker. Beck finally relaxed again, loosening up his tense body. He slowly walked towards the round table to help Tori pick up her papers, trying not to scare her again. Once they were both packed up, Tori stood up from her seat, stretching out her body with ease. She slung her bag across her body, and walked next to Beck towards the door.
Beck reached out and opened the door, ever the gentleman, and held it open for Tori.
"Why thank you kind sir," joked Tori, a smirk on her lips. Beck laughed, a carefree laugh that made Tori want to join in as well, but she simply smiled at him and walked out, Beck close behind.
The cold air slapped Tori across the face, and she shivered instantly, goose bumps rising up her thin arms. Beck frowned, disturbed by the picture of a cold, shivering girl standing before him.
"Hey, don't you have a jacket?" he inquired, shoving his hands into the pockets of his own leather jacket. Tori shook her head softly, and at Beck's questioning gaze, she explained further.
"I didn't think I would need it today. It was pretty warm when I left my house."
Beck nodded, but still looked troubled as Tori scanned the area quickly, still shivering slightly. Finally, he sighed and set down his backpack, holding it between his legs. Shrugging off his black, leather jacket, he held it out towards Tori, who was staring at him in disbelief.
"No! I-I can't take your jacket! Then you would be cold," Tori protested, shaking her head violently. Beck chuckled at her and rolled his eyes.
"Tori, my house is like two blocks away. I'm not going to die of hypothermia in the 7 minutes it will take me to walk home. Take the jacket."
Tori stepped back, protesting some more before Beck cut her off again. "It would be a lot faster if you would just take the jacket. I'm not going to take no for an answer."
Tori hesitated, contemplating whether or not to take the jacket, when she sighed and reached out, seeming to see the truth in his words. Grabbing the heavy black jacket, she slipped it on quickly, the arms about four inches too long for her. Beck snickered at the image before him, watching as Tori tried to push back the sleeves, only to have them fall back down. She looked just plain ridiculous in the jacket, which had to be about two sizes to big.
Tori shot him an exasperated look, glaring at him, although even she had a difficult time keeping a straight face. "You're laughing!" she said accusingly, wagging a finger at him in mock anger.
Beck smiled broadly, a wicked glint in his eyes. "Why, of course I am!" Tori laughed a bright, happy laugh that reminded Beck of Christmas bells.
"Listen, why don't I pick up my jacket tomorrow from your house? Say, one o'clock?" Tori's laughter faded away slowly, and Beck stood there, waiting patiently for her answer. He wasn't even sure why he had said that. It just slipped out. But finally, after a long time of awkward silence, Tori nodded slowly, looking at him with cautious eyes once more.
"Sure...that would be fine. Would you...like my address?"
Shocked, Beck nodded his head quickly, running his hand through his thick, dark brown hair and watched as Tori rummaged through her bag, eventually taking out a small piece of scrap paper and a purple pen. Smirking at the odd color, he shook his head softly as she wrote down her home address and shoved the paper at him, sticking the pen back into her bag when he took the paper. "Look, its reaaally late. I have to go," said Tori, backing away slowly. Beck nodded and shot her a warm smile before turning around and walking the opposite directions as the girl. Tori watched him walk away for a couple of seconds before turning around herself and picking up her pace.
She had just spent more time with Beck than ever before, and already his face was burned into her mind.
Tori pulled the jacket closer to her body as a particularly cold breeze blew past her, and the smell of cologne mixed with something else she couldn't pinpoint filled her nostrils, making her close her eyes briefly. But all too soon, she was at her front door, and her smile vanished. Taking a deep breath, she unzipped a side pocket from her bag and fished out her keys, the jangling sound they made cutting through the silence. Fumbling for the right key, she shoved the small metal key into the lock and turned slowly. She placed her hand on the door handle and, taking a deep, shuddery breath, she pushed open the door.
Authors note: Heyyyy, this is my very first multi chapter victorious story. My first one-shot for Victorious didn't come out as well as I hoped, so here I am again, ready to try again. Remember to review!